


pay no attention to the girl behind the camera

by nessismore



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, First Meetings, I like writing fics where Steve is kind of a smart ass little shit, Interviews
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-17
Updated: 2013-06-17
Packaged: 2017-12-15 06:15:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/846256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nessismore/pseuds/nessismore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve finds that filming a "Day in the Life of Captain America" segment isn't so terrible after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	pay no attention to the girl behind the camera

**Author's Note:**

> For lecterskelter's prompt [here](http://lecterskelter.tumblr.com/post/50622087790). Thanks so much for the awesome prompt! And thanks to sometimesyoufly for beta'ing this! Any remaining mistakes are my bad.
> 
> This is all cracky fun and I have no idea what the sets of these things are actually like.

**Day One**

Darcy never thought she’d be in the position of feeling sorry for Captain America, yet here she is. Before today, she’d thought of him as…well, super. Super strong, super handsome, super private. After all, he’s a superhero. She’d never once considered that there was something that he couldn’t handle. Today, she’s learning there were a whole lot of somethings, beginning with a makeup sponge.

The first glimpse she catches of him, real and in person, he’s arguing with her boss, Holly Engalls. Holly’s an anchor for _Today_ , and Darcy knows that most people would kill to be her personal assistant. Of course, those people have problems because she’s hellto work for. The only reason Darcy’s doing it is because it’s a mutually beneficial arrangement. She gets income while figuring out what she wants to do with her shiny new poli sci degree and Holly can verbally abuse her best friend’s daughter and delay the Great Assistant Hunt, which invariably lasts longer than the actual assistant. That seriously could be the next big reality show, Darcy thinks, making a mental note to pitch it to NBC.   

At the risk of sounding ungrateful, she hates this job. Hates hates hates it. She’s constantly hovering on the precipice of throwing herself at the mercy of the current job market or strangling Holly. Today, she’s glad she hasn’t done either.

Because watching Captain America face off with Holly over _makeup_ of all things is enough to make her feel downright cheerful about having to be at work at four in the morning. 

“Why do I need makeup?” the good captain demands. Darcy hides a grin behind her coffee at the frustration in his voice. “Half my face is covered.”

“But the other half is rather pale, darling,” Holly says smoothly in that affected accent she hadn’t had back when Darcy was calling her Aunt Holly. 

Captain America shakes his head. “I’m here to film a video, not put on a show.” 

Holly’s laugh tinkles across the set. “My dear Captain, everything’s a show.” She frowns, snaps her fingers impatiently. “Patrice, see to the good Captain—“

A girl appears, probably younger than Darcy, makeup sponge and foundation in hand. “It’s Patricia, ma’am.”

Holly’s eyes narrow at being called ma’am, and Darcy’s actually afraid for poor Patricia’s job for a moment. Then Holly’s eyes flick to the Captain, and the megawatt smile reappears. “Yes, yes. Of course, dear. Carry on.” With a turn of a smartly pointed heel, Holly’s powering across to set towards her next victim.

“Stop!” Captain America orders Patricia, in what Darcy’s sure is his most commanding tone. She’s sure soldiers and police officers have fallen in line just from that tone alone. Not Patricia. She gives the Captain an apologetic look but sits him down firmly. Darcy frowns in sympathy. She really doesn’t think he knows what he’s gotten himself into.

— 

Steve never thought he’d be doing this kind of stuff again after the war. Lord knows he did plenty of propaganda back then. He just hadn’t expected to have to do it again in this new time and place. 

He pulls a face, which he knows he shouldn’t, but he hears a smothered laugh, and the girl behind the camera is grinning at him. It makes him feel ten feet tall, and he makes another face, just to hear her laugh again. For the first time that day, he doesn’t hate this “day in the life of Captain America” that SHIELD is making him do.

Of course, no one seems to find it odd that this “day in the life” is 1) being filmed over the span of three days and 2) not what a day in his life is actually like—on a non-mission day, his day mostly consists of working out, some volunteer work, reading, drawing, but none of that is making its way into the documentary because no one is interested in _that._ No, they want to see him in the uniform, looking over intelligence reports, pretending to jump out of a plane, even though most missions he doesn’t wear the uniform much. They want shots of him in action, looking serious, fighting bad guys—but he draws the line at staging a fight. They’re using news footage from a fight in L.A. instead.

At least he gets to keep Steve Rogers private, doesn’t have to compromise his anonymity just because the Avengers destroyed a teeny tiny bit of the White House. You’d think saving the president’s life would be enough to get them a free pass for that, but bad PR is bad PR. Tony would be much better at this kind of thing, but no one thinks it’s a good idea to put him front and center for something like this. So Steve is the sacrificial lamb.

Which means here he is, surrounded by people who simultaneously fawn over him and talk down to him like being polite means he’s slow witted. The girl behind the camera—well, she’s not the one filming, but she’s behind where the camera is—is one of the few _not_ fawning. If anything, she looks slightly bored by the whole thing, picking at the snacks for “the talent,” as he heard one staff member say, and sipping coffee.

As far as he can tell, she’s the assistant to the news anchor who’s conducting the interviews that are supposed to happen after each part of his “day,” and since the reporter (and “creative director”) has done a lot of sitting around, so has the girl. Well, she’s also done the fetch and carry thing, but mostly she stands around and watches everyone poke and prod at him. He thinks maybe she might even feel a little sorry for him, and isn’t that something different for a change?

He makes another face as a technician adjusts the “parachute” he’s got strapped to his back, and the girl very clearly laughs again. He dips his head down and smiles at her, and she shakes her head, biting her lip and turning away slightly. He can still see that gorgeous smile, though.

—

Darcy hates this part about Holly Engalls interviews. No matter how smart and charming her interviewees are—and Captain America seems to have both in spades—she’s not satisfied until she gets the answers that she _wants_. Never mind that the Captain doesn’t seem all too keen to rhapsodize about the American spirit or discuss the latest Stark inventions. He sure as hell doesn’t want to talk about his love life, but Holly keeps pushing and herding him, trying to get him to talk about it. 

“So you and the Black Widow—“ Holly says with a flirtatious laugh that has Darcy grimacing behind the camera. She hears a smothered snort and looks up, startled to see Captain America looking right at her and _grinning_. He catches her eye and winks. Darcy’s breath catches in her throat, and she’s pretty sure the whole world just stops moving around her. Damn, even with half of his face covered, it’s a pretty devastating smile. She does the only thing she can think of to combat it. She sticks her tongue out at him. 

She, Darcy Lewis, sticks her tongue out at Captain America. It’s not her finest moment, except it kind of is, because he tilts his head back and laughs, and for the first time that day he seems relaxed.

Holly’s head whips around to see what he’s laughing at, and Darcy ducks out of sight. A smile plays on her lips when she looks back and sees him grinning at her.

—

The girl’s name is Darcy. It’s easy enough to figure out with Miss Engalls bellowing it every five minutes. Darcy doesn’t exactly come running over, but it’d definitely clear that Darcy answers to Miss Engalls. She’ll usually answer with something like, “Coming, your most lugubriousness,” which earns her one of those smile-glares that Miss Engalls is so very good at. It seems like her favorite expression when she’s not trying to flirt with him.

“Darcy!” Miss Engalls shouts, and Steve watches as Darcy makes a face and pulls away from the food table. She’s got half a baby carrot sticking out of her mouth as she meanders over. 

“You bellowed?”

Miss Engalls snatches the carrot from Darcy’s mouth. “No eating on the set. We talked about this.” Darcy responds with a shrug. He’d say that she looks like a surly teenager, but there’s no defiance, no pouting, just…boredom. She looks at Miss Engalls, not with respect or fear like most of the people here, but like she’s unimpressed.

 _I see right through to the heart of you_ , her expression says, _and you don’t scare me_. 

Steve likes that in a dame.

“Get us caffeine,” Miss Engalls snaps. Steve struggles not to roll his eyes. He’s known bullies like Miss Engalls, known ‘em since before he knew the word “bully,” and as much as he’d like to stand up for Darcy, he knows in the long run it’ll only make the bully meaner. He can’t stand for her unless she stands for herself. 

Still, he can’t resist adding a sugary sweet, “please,” to the end of Miss Engalls’ sentence. 

Darcy smiles, big and wide and beautiful, and she coughs to cover an appreciative laugh. “Coffee or tea, Captain?”

“I wouldn’t say no to a cup of Joe.” He wants to tack on _from a pretty dame_. It’s what Bucky would have done, but he isn’t Bucky and he still hasn’t mastered the art of talking to pretty ladies. Even with Beth, she was always the one to make the first move—even the one to end it. Not that he’s thinking of making a move on Miss Engalls’ PA.

That’s not to say that he’s not thinking of thinking about it as she gives him a saucy little salute and saunters away. His eyes are glued to the gentle sway of her hips. Yeah, he’s definitely thinking about it.

**Day Two**

The second day has barely started and Steve’s almost wishing for an Avengers mission already, just to get out of doing the rest of this thing. Yesterday, every time Steve had tried to shift the narrative of this project away from himself and towards the good works that the Avengers were doing, worthy causes in need of support, Miss Engalls always brought it right back to personal stuff, like whether or not he’s single or trying to get sound bites about patriotism. Sure, Steve believes in patriotism, but he doesn’t want the things he says, the things he believes in so dearly, to be reduced to sound bites for jingoistic politicians and talking heads.

Today they’re at the TV station. Miss Engalls is asking questions, and Steve is resisting the urge to slump in his seat and glare at her like a kid, because _public relations_ Pepper’s voice in his head keeps telling him, and he knows in the end that it’s the best thing for the Avengers. They can do what they do without political support, but it makes their jobs a heck of a lot easier with some of those guys on their side.

In the background, he spots Darcy standing beside the cameraman, shaking his head in disgust, frowning at Miss Engalls, and even that’s not enough to brighten his mood as Miss Engalls asks him yet another question about old fashioned American values.

—

The Captain, at least the part of his face she can see, is looking particularly frowny this morning. Not that she can blame him, because Holly is in fine form today. And by fine form, Darcy means all over the place, because where the hell did this woman learn to do an interview? When she’s not simpering and asking personal questions, she’s asking these bizarro questions about patriotism that clearly make Captain America uncomfortable. There’s a tightness around his jaw and his answers are stilted and terse, and that increases the sympathy tenfold. 

She’s not supposed to text on the job, but she pulls out her phone anyway and sends a message to her mom. _anyone tell you your friend is a hack?_

Her phone buzzes a few minutes later, and she sees her mother’s reply: _told u this wouldnt work :)_

Her mother had told her, actually. Repeatedly. Because as much as her mother loves her daughter and Holly, she also knows that their personalities don’t mix at all. Darcy had known this, too, of course. She’d just thought that the paycheck outweighed the annoyance. She’s reevaluating that thought process.

She tries to smile at the Captain when she catches his eye, but mainly his shoulders slump almost imperceptibly. She’s trying to think of a way to delay the interview to let the Captain get his bearings when she hears Holly’s next question. 

“What animal would you say most embodies who you are, as a man and as a superhero?” All Darcy can do is stare. Really? That’s the question she’s going with? Darcy shakes her head, not quite believing what she’s heard, when Captain America clears his throat, drawing her attention back to him.

“Do you really want me to be honest?” the Captain asks, sitting up. Forty-five minutes of barely answering any questions, this is the first complete sentence he’s said on camera. It’s the most interested he’s sounded all morning. In fact, he almost sounds…cooperative. Darcy is immediately suspicious.

Holly leans forward eagerly. “Yes. I do.”

“It has to be the bald eagle.” Darcy jaw drops as she studies what she can see of his face. The set of his lips is completely serious when he adds, “For America.”

Darcy chokes on a laugh, and Holly shoots her a killing glare before she smiles brightly at the Captain, sensing that she’s finally got an opening. Too bad she can’t see that it’s not an opening she wants. “Would you care to elaborate on that?”

“It symbolizes true grit and American determination. It sees what it wants and it works hard to get there. It’s such a prime specimen. It’s got the hearing of a bat—“ Darcy doesn’t know much about bald eagles, but she’s pretty sure that’s wrong—“the strength of an elephant—“ Wrong again— “and the heart of a lion—“ Seriously? “Whenever I see one, I feel patriotic. It really speaks to me.”

Darcy checks one of the monitors to see if Holly actually buying this. She rolls her eyes when she sees that of course she is.

“And what does it say?” Holly asks with a trilling laugh that grates against Darcy’s nerves. It’s supposed to be a funny little aside, Darcy knows, but the Captain takes a moment to think it over. Darcy holds her breath, waiting for his answer. 

“A bald eagle came to me in a dream once.” Darcy holds her breath waiting for whatever’s coming next. He catches her eye and winks, making her heart beat a little faster. “It was so heroic and so majestic, and it told me that I could do something to change the world. That was how I knew I had to become Captain America.” 

Darcy grabs a donut from the talent table and shoves it in her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. It’s a common theme throughout the rest of the interview, because he does not stop. It doesn’t help that she’s the only one who’s laughing. He sounds so sincere that _everyone_ is buying it and the cameraman actually shot her a lethal look when she snickered. 

She couldn’t help it. She can’t decide if her favorite part is when he says he received a bald eagle from the president himself, or when he said he taught it to sing the national anthem. Of course, what had her in stitches was, when Holly had asked about members of the the Avengers.

“We had a guy, actually, before Hawkeye,” he’d said. “He was an even better shot. We called him Eagle Eye.”

Holly had leaned forward, displaying her bosom for the good captain’s eyes. He’d hastily looked away. “What happened?”

The captain waited a beat before answering. He looked Darcy right in the eye as he’d said, “He was endangered.”

That was when Darcy had snickered, and he hadn’t smiled, but she knew he was pleased that someone got it.

Holly feigned a gasp. “And what happened to him? Is he still in danger?”

He’d almost pulled off looking sad when he shook his head and said, “No.”

Darcy is still snickering about that one when the interview is over. 

—

Steve sits back at the end of the interview, and he looks over at Darcy. She shakes her head at him and raises a donut in toast to what is probably the best interview he’s ever done. Fury’s is gonna be so pissed. That thought makes Steve’s grin widen. That grin fades when Miss Engalls reaches over and strokes his knee.

“You’re so very patriotic,” she purrs, and Steve has to fight to keep the wince off of his face. It’s not that she isn’t a beautiful woman. She is. But there’s something too artificial about her for him to ever be comfortable around. And while he’s always appreciated a dame who knows what she wants and goes out and gets it, he’s less comfortable when _he’s_ the thing that a dame wants. And the look in Miss Engalls’ eyes right now is telling him he’s her target.

He knows exactly how he feels about it, he’s not sure how to say thank you, but no thank you. “Uh…” he says when her hand inches further up. He shifts his legs discreetly to move away from her touch. “Thanks?”

“I was a runner up for a Miss Teen New York pageant as a girl, you know,” she says flirtatiously. She leans even further forward, and he shifts in his seat again.

“Oh.” He’s not quite sure what to do with that information. “Congratulations.”

“I would make an excellent Mrs. America—“ Steve scrambles to his feet, and Holly almost topples over. He’s too much of a gentleman not to catch her, and when he tries to put her down right away, she tangles her arms around him.

“That’s quite an offer but—“ He yelps when he feels a pinch on his backside. Steve renews his efforts to disengage.

“You’re just super all over, aren’t you?” 

“Not that super,” he says with a nervous laugh, finally pulling away. He backs up as Holly comes towards him again. Over her shoulder, he sees Darcy watching them. A smirk plays around those full, pouty lips of hers.

 _Need help?_ she mouths, and Steve nods as subtly as he can. It’s her turn to wink as she comes hurrying towards him and Miss Engalls.

“Holly, Lawrence Parker is on the phone for you in your office.” Just that quickly, Miss Engalls disengages from him.

She lingers long enough to trail a finger down Steve’s chest, and Steve gulps and attempts to back away. “I’ll be in my office if you need me.”

“I’ll be sure to come get you if there’s an emergency,” Darcy says cheerfully.

Miss Engalls turns a glare on her. “Not you.” Darcy just wiggles her fingers as Holly sashay’s away.

Steve lets out a relieved breath. “Thanks.”

“Thank _you_. Best Holly Engalls interview I’ve ever seen. You’re gonna make headlines, Cap.” Darcy pats him on the bicep. She squeezes, but it feels more like curiosity than groping. “Good Lord, if dudes could get arm implants, they’d use yours as a model.”

“Uh, thank you.” 

“Sorry, that was very Holly of me.”

“No, it’s okay, I—“ He wants to tell her that he likes the way her hand feels on him, and he wonders—

“Darcy, there was no one on the line!” Steve looks up to see Miss Engalls, heels clicking as she strides angrily towards them. Darcy lets go of Steve’s arm, and he’s maybe just a little disappointed. 

“Guess you took too long to answer. You know how Mr. Parker hates to be kept waiting.” She says it so innocently that even Steve almost believed her.

“Coffee,” Miss Engalls snaps.

“Please,” Steve adds with a grin. There’s a little flash of pink as her tongue pokes out at him, but she scampers away to get their beverages. She wrinkles her nose at him when she comes back and hands him a cup. She’s ridiculous and adorable and interacting with her has almost made this whole process worthwhile. Miss Engalls gives her a few more orders and she has to hurry off, much to Steve’s disappointment. But he has to chuckle when he sees “Eagle Eye” written on the side of his cup.

—

God, she can’t believe she actually squeezed Captain America’s arm. On top of sticking her tongue out at him—twice. Something about him just brings out her spazzy worst, and wow, she actually touched his arm. Maybe she’s not proud of it, but she’ll at least have that memory of all that hard, defined muscle underneath her fingers. Mmm.

Right now, though, she’s watching him eat breakfast. Because the foolish man had sarcastically said, “Gee, why don’t you just film me eating breakfast, too.” She’d known he hadn’t been serious, and he’d known that he hadn’t been serious, but apparently no one else on set got the memo. She can see in the way the set of his mouth wavers every now and again that he’s trying not to look surly, but it’s not working out all that well. He looks like a very cross superhero eating food, and she can’t believe they’ve all actually wasted an hour on this. And while she likes to push Holly’s buttons, Darcy’s basically just a peon so there’s nothing she can really do unless she wants to get fired. Which she kind of does. But she doesn’t, because steady income is not a thing she’s willing to give up at this point in her life.

She catches the Captain looking at her again—quite possibly because she’s the only other sane one on this set. Or mostly sane one. Well, the one nearest to the acceptable threshold of sanity. She arches a brow at him, tapping her fingers at the corner of her lips and drawing a smile across her face. His eyes narrow at her, and she does it again. And there it is. The pinnacle of her time working under Holly Engalls: Captain America sticks his tongue out at her. Oh, he disguises it by licking his lips—which, _swoon_ —but she knows exactly what he’d just done.

Who would have thought that Captain America was so ridiculous? Or adorable? Not that she’s falling for him. At least that’s what she has to remind herself hourly. She’s not going to turn into one of those people swooning and falling all over him. Except maybe she is. God, she isn’t _that_ cliched, is she?

He licks his lips again and everything inside her goes all fluttery.

Okay, so maybe she is.

—

**Day 3**

Darcy hurries onto the set late, annoyed that Holly had texted her that they were shooting a segment in the park. When Darcy had arrived, no one from the crew was there. It wasn’t until she’d gotten a text message from Patricia that Darcy had found out they were shooting at the studio. It’s probably Holly’s way of punishing Darcy for interrupting her _tete-a-tete_ with Captain America.

Filming has already started, and she’s extra quiet. She doesn’t even know what’s being filmed today, but everyone is huddled around the soundstage absolutely engrossed. Darcy quietly squeezes through the crowd where she sees the Captain sitting across from Holly once again, and this time he looks much more comfortable, if more serious.

He’s leaning forward as he earnestly says,  “I’m not a hero. I’m just trying…to do the right thing. That’s kind of what being Captain America—being an Avenger—is about. And it’s about trying to help and protect people when we can.”

“And when you can’t?” Holly asks solemnly, like even she knows that this conversation is special.

“Then it’s about trying to understand why and trying to pick up the pieces where we can. There are people—so many people we couldn’t save and each life we lose cuts deep. But we keep trying, we keep doing what we do because someone’s got to stand up and do it.”

There’s a gravity in his voice that makes Darcy’s breath catch, that reveals there’s a price for doing the things that he does. And this, right here, is the Captain America that the world doesn’t get to see. It’s not the juicy personal interview that Holly had originally wanted, but this, to Darcy’s mind, is personal and poignant in a way that’s better.

Holly must think so, too, because there’s a genuine smile on her face when she says, “And you say you’re not a hero.”

The Captain shrugs helplessly, like it’s a title he doesn’t want. “I’m just a man. I’m not trying to be a superhero. I’m just trying to be a good man. I try to let that guide me in all things. I try to stand up for what I believe in and do the right thing, and maybe that sounds hokey or old fashioned, but it’s what I try do be.”

Little by little, Holly draws out stories from the Captain—the good, the bad, the hilarious and, wow. Finally Darcy can see why Holly was hired for the job. While Holly can be vapid and myopic 95% of the time, when she sinks her teeth into a really excellent subject, she can conduct a fantastic interview.

Darcy’s pretty sure that at least three people are wiping away tears when it’s over. He’s looking around when it’s over, and his eyes land on Darcy. His expression is guarded as he searches her expression for…something. She bites her lip and she’s pretty sure her heart flip flops because he’s such a good man. He smiles when she gives him a thumbs up.

—

Steve’s made a decision. He’s going to ask her out for coffee. He’d made that decision before the interview, when he couldn’t find her on the set and he’d realized how disappointed he was by that. The only problem is, he’s running out of time. There’s not much left to film, and he can’t seem to find time to talk to her alone. He’s running around or she is, and when they have a much needed time to stop and catch a breath, before he can get two words out, Miss Engalls is bellowing her name.

In between takes, he catches her, munching on a donut. “Hey Darcy,” he says, fingers brushing against her arm. They’re separated by her sleeve and his gloves, but it makes him wonder what it would feel like to touch skin to skin. He curls his fingers into his palms to resist running his fingers down her arm again. “Do you have a minute?”

“For you, Cap, I have a million of ‘em.” Her cheeks turn a charming shade of pink, and he thinks maybe asking her out won’t be so scary. He swallows past the nerves and opens his mouth to ask her when he hears Miss Engalls yelling for Darcy from across the set. Again. Any good will he’d stored up towards Miss Engalls during the interview this morning where she’d let him talk about the hard parts of being an Avenger is waning, as she calls Darcy away from him once again. 

“Sorry, looks like this is one of those moments that belongs to Holly,” Darcy says. She makes a face, tosses him the other half of her donut, and heads over to Miss Engalls’.

 That’s how it seems to go for the rest of the day. Either Miss Engalls is shouting for Darcy or popping up between them before he can ask her out, and Steve is getting frustrated. It’s the last shot of the day, and after that, Darcy’s gonna disappear. He can always find out her number and give her a call, but he wants to ask her today, while she still remembers that he’s made her smile. 

He spies Patricia sitting at her makeup station. All he needs is a little bit of a distraction, and maybe she can help. He heads over and whispers his plan. Patricia nods enthusiastically, and after the final shot, she heads over to Miss Engalls. She subtly angles Miss Engalls so her back is to Steve, and he goes to look for Darcy.

—

Darcy’s packing up Holly’s things after the last shot of the day. She’s kind of sad about it, because despite Holly’s ups and downs, this shoot has been kind of fun.

After all, she kinda made friends with Captain America, so that’s cool. She made him smile, made him laugh. No one has to know about the part where she finds him ridiculously attractive, inside and out. If he were just a great body and a chiseled jaw, that’d be one thing. But he’s more than that. He’s funny and so _good_ and he makes her want to get to know him. Not that that’s going to happen.

After this, he’ll do his superhero thing and she’ll do her “finding herself” thing, and nevermore the twain shall meet, but at the very least she’d like to say goodbye. Maybe she can get a hug out of it and feel those hard arms around her at least once. She tries to hurry, but holy crap, Holly’s got a lot of stuff. She hears the door open behind her and she rolls her eyes. “I’m almost done, Holly, hold your horses.”

“Will you have coffee with me?”

Darcy looks up, startled to see Captain America standing at the door. He can’t possibly have said what she thought he just said. “I—what?”

He shuffles his feet. Is he _nervous_? “Coffee. With me. Do you want to get some?”

“You’re asking me out for coffee?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.” Her heart leaps into her throat and she fights the silly grin that wants to steal across he face. “Yeah. That’d be nice.”

—

Steve smiles widely, relief and anticipation welling up inside him. “Great. That’s great.”

They stand there grinning at each other until Darcy asks, “When?”

Steve hadn’t quite thought that far ahead. “Uh…how about this afternoon? If you don’t have work?” He wants to kick himself for sounding so eager, but it’d be great to spend time with her when people aren’t pulling them in different directions.

She cocks her head to the side, nibbling on her lower lip. “I think I could get free in a couple of hours.” They decide to meet at a coffee shop near Stark Tower, and she scribbles her number down for him, just in case. “One more thing…you gonna show up in the suit?”

He actually hadn’t thought about that. But the suit would definitely not be a great idea. And he might not know Darcy all that well, but he trusts her to keep his secret, even if things don’t work out. He smiles at her. “No.”

“Then how am I gonna know who you are?” She arches a brow and crosses her arms over her chest, but her lips are still curved upwards. 

An idea strikes. Something that’ll make her smile. “You’ll know,” he says confidently.

That’s when his time runs out. Miss Engalls is calling for Darcy once again. Darcy rolls her eyes, and pulls a face. “I’d better go. See you in a couple of hours?”

“Yeah,” he says, and he’s pretty sure there’s a dopey smile on his face as he waves. “See you in a couple of hours.”

—

Darcy checks her watch for what feels like the hundredth time. She’s five minutes early, she knows, and it would be ridiculous to expect the Captain to do the same. She looks around surreptitiously. Maybe he’s already here. Maybe he decided he didn’t want coffee with her after all. Maybe he got called out to save the world from a giant chinchilla and the chinchilla ate her number.

She drums her fingers on the table, realizes that makes her look too impatient, so she pulls out her iPod. Not to listen to anything, but to have something to do with her restless fingers, because oh God, she’s so nervous and what if she makes a complete idiot of herself—not that she hasn’t already and—

Darcy forces herself to stop thinking, to just breathe, and that slows her racing thoughts at least a little. She looks up as the door opens and a couple of teenage girls walk in. Definitely not Cap. God, what is she going to talk about? Have they even had a conversation?

The door opens again, and this time a hunk of a blonde man walks in. Wow. She takes a moment to appreciate the hard body, the appropriately muscly arms, and the ridiculously handsome face as the man looks around the room for someone. She moves her own gaze onto the menu, debating what drink she should get, and maybe she should get a piece of coffee cake—

Her eyes go back to the man, who’s still standing near the entrance of the shop. Something about his profile is familiar. He turns, and that’s when she sees what he’s wearing. On his shirt, full across that expansive chest, is the cheesiest image of a bald eagle she’s ever seen, on the background of an American flag.

She bursts out laughing, and the man’s head swivels towards her. When he sees her, he smiles and makes his way over.

“Waiting for someone?” he asks, and she knows that voice.

“Yes. I think his name is Eagle Eye,” she says with a grin.

The Captain laughs. “Are you sure? I think his name is Steve.” 

She holds out a hand, and he takes it, his fingers warm and solid around hers. “It’s nice to meet you, Steve.”


End file.
